Probiotics question

pantelis

Last year in India i had severe episode of diarrhoea for more than a month.I took Immodium and literally did nothing !!!
I read some articles on probiotics and decided to use them on my next trip .I found the following site and there are two:

http://www.dtecta.co.uk/diarsafe.html

http://www.dtecta.co.uk/travla.html

Any more help and suggestions on this topic???I can not take any drug since i have lack of G6PD enzyme and think that the above are suitable.Has anyone tried them?????

__________________

Haylo

Scientific evidence for probiotics helping prevent travellers diarrhoea is pretty sketchy at best, though some people do swear by it.

What IS proven to help prevent travellers diarrhoea is regular washing of hands with soap and water, and being very careful what you eat and drink.

PROPER hand washing makes a huge difference in disease transmission, but it seems to get very little publicity, presumably because something your mother always told you isn't "sellable" as a concept. I know one woman who takes daily probiotics, but who often gets stomach upsets, probably because she never washes her hands after using the lavatory, or before eating her sandwiches.

__________________
The world is mud-luscious and puddle-wonderful - E.E. Cummings, poet (1894-1962)

pantelis

But i need some help on this because last year the whole experience was terrible and ruined my trip!!!!

Haylo

Dukoral, which is an oral cholera vaccine, has been proven to also offer some limited protection against E.coli.

But honestly? You need to be taking advice from a medical expert, not a bunch of people on a travel forum. I consider myself pretty well clued up, but I freely admit I've no idea whatsoever about your medical condition.

Aupmanyav

You need to consult a qualified doctor, preferably an endocrinologist. Pro-biotic is a sham. Stomach and intestinal infections are tougher than Pro-biotic.

Nick-H

Did you read this thread, pantelis? There's plenty of good information there, and some controversy too. I think Dr Zog, despite his knowledge and practice of such things, had to admit that he got ill anyway. But, Aupmanyav, I don't think it pro-biotics are a complete sham, if used in the right way. The sham might be the so-called healthy drinks which are billed to be rich in them!

The last time I tried Immodium, it didn't do much for me either. It is but one among many diarrhoea stoppers.

After a week of it, back in UK, post trip, I went to the doc expecting something heavyweight, and he told me to take Kaolin and Morphine --- a good old-fashioned remedy available off-the-shelf there (a whole bottle probably contains less opiate than a single codeine tablet; don't let the name put you off), but not available here.

Also, my last attack here, my wife gave me something that worked well --- but when I checked it out, I found it was banned in most of the rest of the world .

If one thing doesn't work... try another. Better, just see a doc! Especially if you have any drug allergy or intolerance. In fact, maybe go to a private hospital and see a specialist.

SusanUK

During our 15 month stay in India we found oregano oil to be the most effective treatment for diarrhea - and almost obsessive use of antibacterial hand gel immediately before eating to be the best prevention. Perhaps we were fortunate but we only had a two incidences of stomach upset during the whole of our time in India (both times after eating in five star hotels!).

Aupmanyav

Nick, I sold pro-biotics from 1965 to 1970, mixed with penicillin, tetracycline injections, with diorrhea and ameobiosis drugs, and vitamin suppliments. There are many things which sell on myths, aphrodisiacs, drugs claiming to cure liver problems, etc. Kaolin with now-banned oxyquinoline, very good, kept it for ready use when my children were young.

namaste_cat

Interesting about mixing the two because my understanding is one should take probiotics between antibiotics doses to give the good bacteria a chance to repopulate. If taken together, the antibiotics kill all bacteria, good and bad so makes sense probiotics wouldn't work this way.
Seems a little harsh putting probiotics in this category. Or maybe you're not referring to probiotics in that statement? In that case, never mind. But if you are, then it's just your opinion because fwiw there are a fairly large number of peer-reviewed double-blind studies on various probiotic strains. Over 32,000 hits here alone.

I have learned that for myself that I needed to take both Lacto and Bifido in the right concentration of colony forming units (CFU) before probiotics really did anything for me. In the past when I took Acidophilus in a few million CFU it didn't help but when I started using the right mix of strains in the right concentration, I found that along w/ common sense precautions such as hand washing, being careful what I ate and where, I never had any tummy upset while in India (or Mexico or other places either).

P.S. Nick, thanks for the Dr. Zog link. I'm still slogging through it and hope by my next India trip I'll get more educated on probiotics

Aupmanyav

Probably that worked. Basically, I am not too impressed by probiotics. Perhaps it is a personal opinion.

Haylo

Exactly, it's not rocket science, yet dukkha's Indian doctor, from a top Delhi hospital no less, prescribed him antibiotics and probiotics to be taken together at exactly the same time.

I must say, that did rather dent my confidence in his abilities.

Nick-H

My dentist does that.

I thought it increased the odds of keeping some live good bacteria. He says that, without them, the antibiotics are likely to cause diarrhoea, although that does not happen with me.

Haylo

I'm pretty sure that the antibiotics kill the lot, good and bad, and that if you want your system to repopulate with good bacteria straight away, rather than letting nature take its course, you should start taking the probiotics straight away after the course of antibiotics has finished.

But hey, I'm not a doctor - just because I'm pretty clued up about this stuff and read "New Scientist" and so on, that doesn't mean I'm right.

Wildhorse

I believe in healthy eating and in keeping up a high standard of personal hygiene. I believe that if you eat good, healthy food, i.e. lots of vegetables and fruit (that has, ideally, not been treated with pesticides, etc.), if you avoid junk, and unless your immune system is weak due to some other condition, you won't have to do anything extra - no probiotics, no extra vitamins, no other supplements. And nothing to cure diarrhoea because you're unlikely to get it.

Maybe I have just been lucky but... after 20 years of travelling the world as a backpacker, including places like Mexico and Egypt, after numerous trips to India, eating mostly dhaba food, eating salad every day (because I need something fresh) and drinking plain water, I have never "lost" a single day to diarrhoea or a "tummy upset". I have never been forced to stay near a toilet. I start every trip thinking: "I will be OK." I always carry immodium, though, just in case. Have never had to use it.

As for personal hygiene, I believe in washing my hands with water and soap but I do this in India no more often than at home. It has just always been the most normal thing to do to wash my hands after using the toilet (or even just after touching the door handle!) and before touching food. I always carry a tiny plastic bottle with liquid soap. And for the really rare occasions when no water is available, I carry one of those wet tissues with disinfectant. I don't like this antibacterial gel that has become so fashionable because I don't like gel on dusty hands.

Maybe I have just been lucky although I know at least two other people who have travelled the world for decades and never had a problem.

Nick-H

Haylo, I'm not a doc either, nor even an amateur nutritionist, but I would have thought that if your entire gut flora got wiped out, you would have serious problems immediately.

I expect someone knows...